Gate-latch.



E. CROWLEY. GATE LATCH.

APPLICATION FILED PEB. 10, 1918.

Patented June 9, 1914n 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

E. CROWLEY.

GATE LATCH.

APPLIOATIOII FILED FEB. 10. 1913.

Patented June 9, 1914.

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v view in side elevation of a EDWIN CROWLEY, OF MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA.

Garn-LATCH.

Specification o1' Letters Patent.

Patented J une 9, 1914.

Application led February 10, 1913. Serial No. 747,393.

To all 'whom it ma concern:

Be it known tliat I, EDWIN CBowLEY, a citizen of the United States,residing at Minneapolis, in the county of Hennepin and State ofMinnesota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Gate-Latches; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, andexact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilledin the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention haslfor its object to provide an elicient gate latchespecially designed for use in connection with double swin 'ng gates andwhich may be operated rom either side of the gate to release said gateand permit the same to open in advance of a erson passing through thegate opening.

o the above ends, generally stated, the invention consists of the noveldevices and combinations of devices hereinafter described and defined inthe claims.

The invention is illustrated inthe accompanying drawings, wherein likecharacters indicate like parts throughout the several views.

Referring to the drawings: Figure 1 is a double swinging gate mounted ina gate openin and hinged to one of the gate posts, the ot er gate posthaving secured thereto two of my improve gate latches, connected forsimultaneous actions, some parts of the gate being broken away; Fig. 2is a vertical section taken on the line m2 m2 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is afront side elevation of one of my improved gate latches, on an enlargedscale, also showing the latch lug in vertical section, taken on the linew w of Fig. 4; and Fig. 4 is aview rincipally in vertical section, takenon the ine ai* of Fig. 3.

The numerals 1 and 2 indicate a pair of tubular metallic gate postslocated one on each side of a gate opening. A. gate 3 is mounted in saidgate opening and connected to the gate post 2, for double swingingmovement, by hinges 4. As shown, the frame of the te 3 is constructedfrom tubing, to whica is secured a panel- 5 of woven wire fabric.

In the drawings, an unusually high gate has been illustrated and islocked, at its upper and lower ends, to the gate post 1 by two of myimproved gate latches, which are connected, for simultaneous movements.

4face .of the latch bracket 6 is 'I hese gate latches are identical inconstruction, but are secured to the gate post 1 in reverse order. Anordinary sized gate, of course, will require only one of the improvedgate latches.

Referring now to one of the improved gate latches, the numeral 6indicates a. latch bracket adjustably and frictionally clamped onto thegate post 1 by a pair Vof horizontally extended and vertically spacedclamping bands 7. Said latch brackets 6 and clamping bands 7 are securedone to the other by draw bolts 8 passed through co-incident perforationsin lugs 9 on the latch bracket 6 and lugs l0 on the clamping bands 7, Atits lower end, the latch bracket 6 terminates in a laterally andhorizontally projecting flange 11, which is provided, at its ends, withoutwardly and downwardly curved cam surfaces 12. The latch bracket 6 isalso provided with a horizontally projecting stop lug 13, spacedvertically above the flange 11. A latch lug 14 is adjustably secured, bya bolt 15, to the front vertical member of the y frame of the gate 3,and is arranged to pass between the flange 11 and stop lug 13, duriiglthe swinging movement of the gate 3.

en the gate 3 is closed, the latch lug 14 e 11 and the stop ange 11 willpreprojects between the lian lug 13. Obviously, the vent the ate fromsagging, and the stop lug 13 will prevent the gate from being lifted byhogs or other small animals in attempts to pass thereunder. The camsurfaces 12 serve to guide the latch lug 14 onto the flange 11.

Slidably mounted on the front vertical a latch plate on its back, alaterally projectmounted for vertical movement in a recess 18, formed inthe latch bracket 6. The ,lug 17 is held for straight line verticalmovements by a. pin 19 passed through the recess 18 and a perforation 20in the lug 17, and mounted, at its ends, in seats 21 and 22, formed inthe latch bracket 6, respectively, above and below the recess 18. Acoiled spring 23 is mounted on the intermediate portion of the pin 19and compressed between the lug 17 and the upper end portion of therecess 18, and tends to hold the lug 17 in engagement with the bottom ofthe recess 18.

In the lower intermediate latch plate 16 is formed a 16, having ing lug1 ortion of the ook notch 24 that embraces the stop lug 13, and, whenthe gate is in a closed position, the latch lug 14, thus lock' the gate.Integrally formed with the latch plate 16, on either side of the locknotch 24, is a pair of re versely projecting lugs 25, each provided witha perforation 26, the purpose of which will presently appear. The loweredges of the lugs 25 are formed with cam surfaces o 27, which extendoutwardly and u wardly from the lock notch 24, as best s own in Fig. 3.Under the swinging movement of the gate 3, its latch lug 14engageseither one of the cam surfaces 27,depend-ing on 15 which way the gate ismoving, and lifts the latch plate 16, against the tension of its spring23, a suiiicient distance to permit the latch lug 14 to pass under thestop lug 13. In this position the engaged cam surface 27 is releasedfrom the latch lug 14 and the latch plate 16 is again returned to normalposition, under the tension of its spring 23, with the latch lug 14embraced by the lock notch 24.

Extending parallel with the front face of the latch plate 16 is ahorizontally extended latch actuating lever 28, intermediately fulcrumedto a bolt 29, passed through an elongated vertically extended slot 30,

formed in the latch plate 16 and having screw threaded engagement withthe latch bracket 6. As best shown in Fig. 4, this bolt 29 extends throuh the seat 21 just above the pin 19 and lcks said pin in position. Theends of the lever 28 are provided with inger pieces 31. Additionallinger pieces 32 are integrally formed with the lntermediate edgeortionsA of the lock late 16 and are located directly under the ngerieces 31. The top or `upper edge of the llatch plate 16 is provided witha laterally projecting ange 33, which overlies and rests upon the plperedge o f the lock actuating lever 28. 11s flange 33 normally holds thelatch actuating lever 28 in its normal or intermediate position. Bypressin either set of linger ieces 31 and 32 towar each other, the lato'actuating lever 28 is rocked on its fulcrum 29, thereby liftin the latchplate 16 against the tension yo its s ring, as best shown by dottedlines in ig. 3. This liftin of the latch plate 16 carries the lock note14, thereby releasing the same and permitting the gate to be opened ineither direction. By providing the improved latch with reverselyprojecting pairs of ngerpieces 31 and 32, the latch mag' be opened fromeither side of the gate, t us permitting the gate to swing away from theperson opening the gate. Secured to each end of the flange 11, forswinging movement, is a lock link 34 adapted to be turned upward andover the lugs 25, thereby holding the latch 65 plate 16 down or in itsoperative position.

into the wooden will be imparted f bracket and "actuating leverintermediately fulcrumed to lends in 'said' latch plate en 24 above thelatch` lug cam edges projecting in opposite direction gate adaptedv tobe embraced an y the lock notch of said latch plate, said latc To`positively lock the links 34 to the lugs 25, ordinary padlocks may beinserted through the rforations 26 in saidlugs 25.

When theimproved gate latch is Secured to a wooden gate post, theclamping bands 7 may be dispensed with and lag screws passed through theperforated lugs 9 and ost.

Referring now tro the double arrangement of gate latches, as shown inFigs. 1 and 2, 75 the uppermost latch is turned in a reverse directionfrom the lowermost, and their gate actuating levers 28 are connected,for simultaneous movements, by a pair of parallel vertically extendedrods 35. The ends of these rods 35 are bent laterally and extendedthrough perforated lugs 36, formed on the levers 28 on opposite sides oftheir fulcrums, and secured in position by pins 37. Obviously, when oneof the latch ac- 35 tuating levers 28 is operated, like movement to theother lever;

What I claim is:

1. The combination with a pair of gate posts and a double swinging gatemounted in the gate opening and hinged to one of the gate posts, of alatch bracket secured to the other of said gate posts and having a camflange and a stop lug vertically spaced, the latter above the former, aspring-held 95 latch plate mounted on said latch bracket and havin alock notch embracing the stop lug on sai latch bracket, said latchbracket also having cam edges projecting in opposite direction from saidlock notch, a latch lug on said gate arranged to pass between the camflange and stop lu of said latch to be held there tween by the locknotch of said latch plate, said latch lug arranged to engage one or theother of said cam edges, according to the direction of the movement ofthe gate, to thereby move said latch plate against the tension of itsspring, reversely pro'ecting latch-actuating flnger pieces on sai latchplate, a. latchsaid latch bracket and terminating at its finger pieces,and a projection on aging said latch lever to yiel 'ugly hold the samein iate position, substantially as deand tendin an intel-m 2. Thecombination with a pair ofr gate posts and a double swinging gatemounted 1n the gate opening and hinged to one of the gate posts, of alatch bracket secured to the other. of said gate posts, a spring hel'dlatch plate mounted on said latch bracket and having a lock notch andprovidedY with noto a latch lu on said held b from said lock lugarranged to engr one or the other of said cam edges, accor. g to thedirection of 1s the movement of the gate to thereby move said latchplate against the tension of its s ring, and means includin a link, forpositivel'y locking said latch p ate in an operative position,substantially as described.

3. The combination with a pair of gate posts and a double swinging gatemounted in the gate opening and hinged to one of the gate posts, of alatch brac et secured to the other of said gate posts, a spring heldlatch plate mounted on said latch bracket and having a lock notch andprovided with cam edges projectin in opposite direction from said locknotc a latch lu on said gate adapted to be embraced an held by the locknotch of said latch plate, said latch lu arranged to engage one or theother of sald cam edges, according to the direction of the movement ofthe gate to thereby move said latch late against the tension of itsspring, per orated lugs projectin from opposite sides of said latchplate, an links ivoted to said latch bracket and arrange to be turnedover said erforated lugs, to positively lock said latch plate in anoperative position, substantially as described.

4..The combination with a pair of gate posts and a double swinging gatemounted in the gate opening and hinged to one of the gate posts, of alatch bracket secured to the other of said gate posts and having a camilange and a stop lug laterally spaced one from the other, a spring heldlatch plate mounted on said latch bracket and havin a lock notchembracing said stop lug, sai latch plate also having perforated lugsprojecting in opposite directions from said lock notch, said lugs havingcam edges, a latch lug on said gate adapted to be embraced and held bythe lock notch of said latch plate, said latch lug arranged to engageone or the other of said cam edges, according to the direction of themovement of the gate to thereby move said latch plate against thetension of its spring, and links pivoted to said cam iiange and arrangedto be turned over said erforated lugs, to positively lock said latcplate in an operative position, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I ailix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

EDWIN CROWLEY.

Witnesses:

HARRY D. KILGORE, EDITH E. HANNA.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for iive cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner ot Iatents, Washington, D. 0.

